Any runners? Do you eat your exercise calories?

feathers1981

I have another 7lbs to lose and I'm trying to start logging consistently again! What do you do about exercise calories. I feel like I need to eat them, for example tonight I will be training with my athletics club, its going to be a hard hill sprints session. If I do that having only eaten 1200 cal I feel weak and cant run as fast. So i always feed like I need to eat my exercise calories, mostly to an extent before I run. Sat I'll be doing a half marathon, only jogging it but that day I'll be proper rungry all day afterwards. What do you do about exercise calories?

Also please feel free to add me. I could do with some more motivation!

Bluebell2325

I went onto maintenance about a month ago ahead of my HM on Sunday, I could not do silly mileage training whilst on a deficit. Must say though I eat "better" in general now and rely less on fancy drinks and gels on my long runs and more on plain water and proper food, which has helped a great deal.

daynasrose

I eat more calories on average when I run longer distances than when I don't. For example, yesterday I ran 10K and ate about 250 more than my normal 1530 calories/day yet I burned close to 800 calories. I had the post-run munchies so had a huge plate of spaghetti. I normally run 5x a week, though, so have it built into my daily calories. If I were going to run a HM I would plan to eat more (carbs especially) the day before and of, maybe even after.

bringbackthejoy

Depends on the length of the run. Under 6 miles I am fine with sticking to maintenance calories and not eating anything back. I am not usually particularly hungry on a day with high mileage. But the day after is a whole different animal...I try and look at the whole week in those terms (I run 4 days a week and have my HM in three weeks) and I still come into a very slight deficit. That said, it is my first HM and I am just looking to complete it. I think as I move more towards performance, I will need to fuel the runs better. However, I say, if you are hungry and need the energy, you should eat.

JeepHair77

I find it really difficult to find the "sweet spot" when I'm running a lot. Running seems to increase my appetite like no other exercise does, so I find myself ravenous and highly likely to overeat. I also tend to hit a wall if I'm eating in much of a deficit, so I know I need to fuel my runs.

On the other hand, if I put on even a few pounds, it shows in my speed. The result is that I can become weird and obsessive about my macros when I'm training for a race - keeping my calories a little below maintenance but increasing protein and avoiding carbs that aren't sufficiently satisfying.

curlygirlusn

I dont run as much as I used to, but I never dieted while I was trying to train for a race. Only while I was in "maintenance mode" between races. Being as that may, you might try eating back SOME of the calories (2/3 of them) and see how that works.

gogogadgette

I used to eat back a portion of my running calories whenever my weekly totals were at or above 30 mpw. I know that lack of calories and endurance sports can definitely impair ones health in the long term and increase likelihood of injury so I treated myself to something extra on my running days. Man do I miss running... I'm slow jogging with the pup in intervals just to maintain some of my sanity and my stride at the moment. LOL.

Tryingtogetfitdeb

I do eat some of my running calories, its usually the next day when I'm more hungry as I tend to run on an evening, although this is going to change soon. I think it does depend on the individual, I ran the other night and hadn't eaten much during the day and really struggled with my running.